Block-molding machine



A. F. LEWIS BLOCK MOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 5, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1flnapn F Lewis A TIIJ.

Feb. 10, 1925.

I 1,525,872 A. F. LEWIS I BLOCK MOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 5. 1923 sSheets-Shet s F I! -1 v l7 /7 15 g 6/6 4? 48 o 7 O 5 :8 47 :4 f 7 J 1 Fa 1 7 Q I: mm l flnson FLe WIS Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

1,525,372 PATENT OFFICE.

ANSON F. LEWIS, OF SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA.

BLOCK-MOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed October 5, 1923. Serial No. 666,741.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be it known that I, ANsoN F. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Santa Barbara, in the county of Santa Barbara and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Block- MoldingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a blockmolding apparatus of that character embodied in application Serial No.544,481, issued as Patent No. 1,488,644.

A purpose of my present invention is the provision of a block moldingapparatus which includes plastic compressing means operable at the topand bottom of the block mould, the lower compressing means beingassociated with a block ejecting means so as to be operable through themedium of the last means and in a manner to eliminate the necessity ofproviding separate operating means as in the apparatus embodied in theapplication above referred to.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide a'block moldingapparatus in which the upper compressing means is mounted for adjustmentto vary the degree of compression effected by said means.

A further purpose of my invention is the Y provision of a block moldingapparatus in which the upper compressing means is detachably associatedwith a movable cover, and such cover being provided with a novel form oflatching means which is effective to securely retain the cover in closedposition without subjecting the latching means to any undue wear.

Although I have herein shown and will describe only one form of blockmolding apparatus embodying my invention, it is to be understood thatvarious changes and modifications 'may be made herein without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of theappended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view showing in side elevation, with a portion thereofbroken away, one form of block molding apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. V

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the cover in openposition and a plastic block formed by the apparatus and in ejectedposition with respect to the mould.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing in side elevation a portion ,of themould and the cover therefor, with the actuating means for the upperplunger in active position.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail of the latchingmechanism shown in F ig. 1. I Y

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing in side elevation a modified formof plunger actuating mechanism.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of theseveral views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, my invention in its presentembodiment comprises a pair of rigidly connected frames F and F whichare preferably of triangular form and held in spaced relation by rods15. A jacket J of rectangular form is secured upon the frames F and F,and interposed between the jacket and the frames is a bottom plate Pemployed for closing the bottom side of the jacket. The upper side ofthe jacket is adapted to be closed by a cover K supported for swingingmovement upon arms 16 secured to the jacket J, such arms being pivotallyconnected at the point indicated at 17 to the arms 18 secured to thecover. Detachably secured to the bottom plate P by means of fasteningmembers 19 (Fig. 2) are a plurality of hollow rectangular members 20which, constitute the core of the block mould. These members 20 are.secured in spaced parallel relation within the jacket J so as to allowof the pouring of cement or other plastic material between the membersand the jacket. The plate P is of such an area so as to provide slots atthe opposite sides thereof, and between the plate and the jacket J, suchslots being provided for the purpose of accommodating an ejecting frameE including side bars 21 andf end rods 22. This ejecting frame issupported at its four corners upon vertically disposed rods 23 connectedat their upper ends to the bars 21 and at. their lower ends toextensions 24 formed in a yoke 25, The yoke 25 is mounted for ver ticalmovement between guide rails 26 secured to the frames F and F, and withfingers 27 extending from the opposite sides of the yoke and engagingthe guide bars to prevent longitudinal displacement Of the yoke, aswillbe understood,

The. oke is adapted to be manually elevatec through the medium ofgrooved pulleys 28 and 29, and chains or other flexible members 30connected to the pulleys and to the eyes 31 of rods 32 adjustablysecured to the yoke 25. The pulleys 28 and 29 are mounted for rotationalmovement by a shaft 33 journaled in suitable bearings supported upon theframes F and F and to which the pulleys are keyed. A triangular yoke 34is secured to the pulley 28, and this yoke is provided with an extension35 formed with a handle 36 adapted to be gripped when actuating thepulley.

The second shaft 37 is journaled upon suitable bearings secured to theframes F and F, and fixed'to the opposite ends of this shaft are levers38 having tapered or recessed ends 39. Rods 40 are pivotally connectedto the arms 38 at a point indicated at 41, and these rods are adjustablyconnected at their lower ends within the yoke 25. Grooved rollers 42 arerotatively mounted upon the pulleys 28 and 29 so as to engage the loweredges of the arms 38 and to ride'on the lower edges of the reduced ends39, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Through an actuation of the pulleys 28 and 29, the ejecting frame E isadapted to be moved upwardly within the jacket J, and removablysupported upon this frame is a lower plunger G constructed to freelymove between the members 20 of the core in effecting a compression ofthe plastic material contained within the jacket. This plunger G isadapted to oo-operate with an upper plunger G movably associated withthe lower side of the cover K so as to move downwardly within the jacketin effecting a compression of the plastic material. This plunger G issecured to a plurality of rods 43 slidably extended through suitableopenings formed in the cover K and threaded to receive nuts 44 so thatexpansible springs 45 may be interposed between washers 46 and the upperside of the cover K for normally urging the plunger as a unit upwardlytoward the cover. Sleeves 47 surround the rods 43 above the cover K soas to protect the springs 45. It will be understood that through anadjustment of the nuts 44 the urging action of the springs can be variedand a vertical adjustment of the plunger G effected.

In order to move the plunger G to compressing position within the jacketJ, cams 48 are fixed to the opposite ends of a shaft 49 journaled in thecover K and provided with an operating lever 50 by whichthe shaft isrotated in effecting actuation of the cams. The cams are eccentricallyconnected to the shaft so that when rotated they will serve to depressthe plunger G"again'st the action of the springs 45. In the depressedposition of the plunger, it is disposed within' the jacket J so as toeffect a depression p5 the plastic material constituting the Forsecuring the cover K in closed position, the jacket J is provided with akeeper lip 51 adapted to be engaged by latching hooks 52 loosely pivotedon a shaft 53 journaled in the cover, and to which latter is fixed aU-shaped yoke 54 carrying pins 55 which engage tongues 56 formed on thelatching hooks 52. Limiting extensions-57 are fixed to the yoke 54 forlimiting the movement of the yoke rearwardly toward the cover. The hooks52 being loosely mounted upon the shaft 53 are free to occupy an engagedposition with respect to the-lip 51 for securing the cover in closedposition. In order to: release the hooks when opening the cover, theymay be moved to released position, as shown in Fig. 6, by moving theyoke 54 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 6,thereby causing the pins 55 to'engage the tongues 56 and thus move thehooks 52 so that their bills disengage the lip 51. The stops 57 serve tolimit this movement of the yoke 54 so that as soon as the hooksdisengage the lip the movement of the yoke 54 is checked.

In practice, the ejecting frame normally occupies the lowered positionshown in Fig. 1, with the lower plunger G superimposed thereon sothat'when the cover K is in open position, the concrete or otherplasticmaterial may be poured into the jacket J filling the spaces betweenthewall of the jacket and the members 20 of the core. The cover K is nowswung to closed position and retained in such position by the latchhooks 52, as has been described, so that the upper plunger G is nowpositioned to effect a compression of the concrete within the mould.actuation of the lever 50 to swing the cams 48 from the position shownin Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 5 whereby the plunger may be forceddownwardly into the jacket for a distance depending upon the adjustmentofthe nuts 44 and upon the resistance encountered and the force applied.

The compression of the concrete at the upper side of the mould havingbeen com.- pleted, the lower plunger G is now actuated to effect acompression of the concrete at the lower side of the mould by rotationof the pulleys 28 and 29 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. As thepulleys are rotated, the rollers 42 move upwardly to elevate the arms 38thereby lifting the rods 40 and the yoke 25 to effect a slightelevationof the ejecting frame and the plunger G through the medium ofthe rods 23. Byvirtue ofthe reduced ends 39' of the'ar1ns38 the rollers42 This compression is effectedby' move the arms a predetermineddistance which is suflicient to force the plunger G upwardly therequired distance in effecting the desired compression of the concretewithin the mould. It will be particularly noted that because of thenormally slack chains 30 this initial movement of the pulleys 28 and 29merely operates to take up the slack in the chains, and that the moveme-nt of the plunger G is effected solely through the actuation of thearms 38.

From the foregoing operation, it will be clear that the compression ofthe concrete within the mould both from the top and bot tom thereof hasbeen completed, so that it is only necessary to swing the cover K toopen ,osition when the block thus formed can be ejected from the mouldupon continued movement of the pulleys 28 and 29. Such movement of thepulleys effects elevation of the yoke through the medium of the chains30 thus forcing the ejecting frame upwardly within the mould to elevatethe plunger G and the block to the position shown in Fig. 4 when theblock and plunger can be removed from the apparatus. I

Other blocks can be formed by repeating the above operation, and if itis desired to vary the size and contour of the blocks, it will be clearthat different size plungers G and G, core members 20 and plates 2O canbe employed by virtue of the detachability of these elements.

In Fig. 7 I have shown another cam arrangement by which the plunger Gcan be depressed with respect to the cover K. In the present instance, Iprovide two cams 48 at each end of the cover K, such cams being mountedeccentrically upon shafts 49 and operable by means of a lever 50directly connected to one of the shafts 49 and operatively connected tothe other shafts through an arm 50 and a link 50. By providing the fourcams, it will be clear that the pressure exerted downwardly upon theplunger G is uniform thus insuring of the uniform pressure of theplastic material, as will be understood.

IVhatv I claim is: I

l. A block molding apparatus, comprising a mould, an ejecting framemovable within the mould, a plunger supported on the ejecting frame,pivoted arms operatively connected to the ejecting frame, rotatablymounted pulleys, flexible connections between the pulleys and ejectingframe, coaeting means formed on the pulleys and arms for effecting anelevation of the arms upon rotation of the pulleys so as to actuate theejecting frame and cause said plunger to compass a material within themould, and flexible connections between the pulleys and the ejectingframe for moving the latter to ejecting position. with respect to themould upon the actuation of said pulleys, said connections beingnormally slack to prevent movement of the ejecting frame through theconnections upon the initial movement of said pulleys.

2. A block molding apparatus, comprising a mould, an ejecting framemovable within the mould, a plunger supported on the frame within themould, a yoke supported in pending relation to the frame and operativelyconnected thereto, pivoted arms operatively connected to the yoke andhaving recessed ends, pulleys mounted. for rotational movement, flexibleconnections between the yoke and pulleys, and rollers carried by thepulleys and engageable with the reduced ends of said arms in the mannerand for the purpose described.

3. A block moulding apparatus, comprising a mould, a cover for the mouldpivoted to occupy open and closed positions, a plunger carried by thecover and movably sustained to occupy one extreme position in which itis withdrawn from the mould and another extreme position in which it isdisposed within the mould, adjustable means for aiding the plunger tothe first extreme position, and means for moving the plunger to thesecond extreme position against the action of said urging means.

4. A block molding apparatus, comprising a mould, a cover for the mouldpivoted to occupy open and closed positions, a plunger carried by thecover and movably sus tained to occupy one extreme position in which itis withdrawn from the mould and another extreme position in which it isdisposed within the mould, adjustable means for urging the plunger tothe first extreme position, and cam openative means for moving theplunger from the first extreme position to the second extreme positionagainst the action of said urging means.

5. A block molding apparatus, comprising a keeper lip formed on themould. latch hooks pivoted on the cover, a yoke pivoted on the cover,tongues formed on the hooks, and pins carried by the yoke and engageablewith said tongues for moving the hooks to disengaged position withrespect to the keeper lip.

6. A block molding apparatus, comprising a keeper lip formed onthemould, latch hooks pivoted on the cover, a yoke pivoted on the cover,tongues formed on the hooks, pins carried by the yoke and engageablewith said tongues for moving the hooks to disengaged position withrespect to the keeper lip, and means for limiting the movement of theyoke in one direction.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

.ANSON F. LEWIS.

